He also missed Danny Wicks' NRL comeback with the Eels and the arrival and departure of so many players including Reece Robinson, Nathan Peats, Semi Radradra and Michael Gordon.

And of course the 2014 Dally M winner missed the carnage of the club's darkest hour, the 2016 salary cap scandal which saw the loss of 12-competition points, a $1 million fine and a boardroom ban of disgraced directors.

The Eels are a stronger club than the one Hayne boldly left behind for a dream.

The question is, can Hayne, who turned 30 last month, prove in 2018, he has the same strength and fortitude to respond under pressure of which the walls of his own club, can now profess?